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Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love

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Because of its nature as a sequel, spoilers for the first four games and Sakura Wars: The Movie will be left unmarked.

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Sakura Wars V: So Long, My Love is the fifth installment of the Sakura Wars series, and the only one on the Playstation 2 and the Nintendo Wii (as well as the first to be officially released outside Japan).

It is an alternate 1928, and Shinjiro Taiga, an in-training samurai from Tokyo, is summoned to New York to join the New York Combat Revue Star Division, a squad of vigilantes who, behind the disguise of a musical troupe, use their Transforming Mecha to protect New York from the threat of mysterious invading robots animated by a force known as "Dark Pneuma". The game focuses on Shinjiro acquainting himself with his new home, opening up to his teammates, and leading the Star Division against the Dark Pneuma's forces.

The game itself is split between visual novel and turn-based strategy, where the actions in the former will affect the performances of each character in the latter.

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This game provides examples of:

Always Close: It doesn't matter if you break Enten's Pneuma tank (which is about to turn your allies to stone permanently) right away, or after several turns: the messages about having three or one minute left will only pop up when it reaches certain tresholds of damage, and in the following cutscene it will be destroyed as the last second ticks down.

Courtroom Episode: One part of the game takes place at an informal outdoor court, where Shinjiro is representing the Harlemites who oppose Steam Frontier's attempted gentrification of their neighborhood, while his own teammate, famed lawyer Cheiron, is representing Steam Frontier.

Dangerous Forbidden Technique: The Five-Ring Mandala can seal a demon away for several centuries, but at the cost of the life of one of its casters.

Darkest Hour: The beginning of the final chapter. Nobunaga leaves Shinjiro with a nearly-fatal wound which makes him bedridden for several days, the Star Division starts falling apart without his guidance, the Sixth Sun threatens to obliterate all of New York, and Shin has just learned that the only way to seal Nobunaga again requires sacrificing his closest ally.

Defrosting the Ice Queen: Cheiron and Subaru during their respective chapter. Cheiron's breakdown is even accompanied by audio cues of ice chipping and shattering...

Eagleland: Type 1, for the most part: America is highly idealized, but is shown to have its fair share of problems.

Guide Dang It!: To use the powerful Coupling Attacks, which the game gives you no clue of even existing until you explore the Playable Epilogue, you have to max out the protagonist of the chapter's affection meter, then have Shinjiro stand next to her and perform a Super Move.

Even harder to get is the ultimate attack Supernova, for which you have to unlock all Coupling Attacks in a single playthrough, bring all relationships (including three hidden ones) to the maximum level, and is only usable in the last chapter.

Hero Insurance: Averted. If you break too many scenery items during battles (such as fences and benches), Sunnyside will remind Shin that they have to pay for all the damage done by the Stars, and ask him to be more careful.

Hold the Line: Two missions in the final chapter task you with protecting your HQ and airship respectively.

Jack-of-All-Stats: Shinjiro's Fujiyama-Star has good attack power, armor and speed, and even though he only has one-on-one attacks, he can heal up to 2 allies at the same time.

Japanese Ranguage: In Chapter 2, this is invoked by Shinjiro and Subaru when they pose as Japanese Tourists to fool a man from the mafia. He lampshades this, saying that they sound like walking stereotypes, and afterwards, Subaru says that she feels like an idiot.

Leitmotif: One for each character, which is dominant in their respective chapters and plays during their sidequests.

Level-Up at Intimacy 5: The only way to power up Shinjiro's stats is to raise his rank (acting professional on the field and finishing missions efficiently). To power up the other Stars, Shinjiro has to "motivate" (befriend) his companions in the days before the battle.

Friendship values between characters also give them a chance to cancel an attack aimed at another, power up Joint attacks, and unlock additional sidequests.

Macross Missile Massacre: The regular attack of the Stars in Flight Mode, which launches up to 5 missiles at a time. Rosita's Star's are smaller, but in bigger number.

Sunnyside takes over an arsenal and launches a salvo of carp-shaped rockets at Azuchi Castle and the Sixth Heaven to buy the Star Division enough time to destroy them.

Making a Splash: Diana's standard Attack is a water jet from syringe-shaped guns; in flight mode, she launches raindrop-shaped bombs. Also, her healing Super Moves make bubbles and rainbow appear.

Non-Lethal K.O.: When a Star (except Shinjiro's) is destroyed, it is whisked out of the battle with nothing but a slight disappointment of the pilot at Shin's tactical skills. Yes, even if it was shot down from the sky, melted into a pool of otherworldly fire, or crushed beneath a meteor.

Playable Epilogue: You can go around the city talking with characters and playing extra scenes after beating the final boss, but before the ending. Also, the "Easy and Fun Day in N.Y." takes place after the game, and unlocks more content as you unlock the endings for more companions.

Puppy Love: The relationship between Rosita and Shinjiro, both during her chapter and in the epilogue if she is chosen as his companion, drifts towards this.

Ramming Always Works: Nobunaga responds to Sunnyside's missile launch by erecting a barrier around the castle. Shinjiro's answer is to just smash the Ahab through.

Reincarnation Romance: It's implied that Shinjiro and the girl he chooses as his partner are the reincarnation of the Five-Ring Warriors leader and the nun who sacrifices her life who have fallen in love during the ordeal.

Schrödinger's Gun: The hooded girl who sacrifices herself in the flashback changes in appearance according to whose companion you choose. However, if you select Ratchet the hooded girl will always be Gemini.

Shout-Out: The entirety of Cheiron's chapter seems to be an Affectionate Parody of the Ace Attorney franchise, with Shinjiro collecting clues during the first half of the day, and facing Cheiron in a trial in the second. For good measure, Cheiron can be later encountered in Central Park while she practices shouting out objections.

Stealth Mentor: Sunnyside puts Shin through several difficult situations so that he can strengthen the bond with his teammates and become a worthy leader, going as far as to suggest sacrificing his companion to the Five-Ring Mandala.

Stellar Name: Each New York Combat Revue members have names based on stars and constellations:

Cheiron Archer is named after a centaur of Greek mythology. Her Japanese name, Sagitta Weinberg, is derived from Sagittarius, the Hunter. Both names also make reference to archery, as Sagittarius is oft depicted as wielding a bow.

Time Skip: Even though each chapter spans few days, one month passes between each of them.

Timed Mission: All the segments inbetween missions give you limited time to make all preparations and complete the day's sidequests. Failing to achieve certain objectives or running late will lower your performance for the day.

Many dialogue choices are timed as well. Not answering in time is considered a response in and of itself.

Video Game Cruelty Potential: So many possibilities. You can invite the ill, vegetarian Diana to a dinner of fried chicken. You can yell at an emotionally-strained Rosita and threaten to kick her out of the team. You can make fun of Gemini's attempts to join the Star Division and mock her father figure for being a pervert. You can utterly ruin the Division's Christmas party. This will however make progressing in the game almost impossible, closing off most sidequests and weakening your characters significantly.

Justified in the story towards the final chapter: with Shinjiro in a coma, the rest of the Star Division doesn't have the coordination and willpower to fight anymore, letting the Dark Pneuma robots advance all the way to the HQ.

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